Our World War 2 Wedding in Maine
My suitcase was packed and ready for our trip to Syracuse, NY, the day after the wedding ceremony because Albert would have to report to base Monday night. That trip would be the only honeymoon we would have because we were having a World War 2 wedding!
I Join a Marching Drill Team
In Franco-American New England, marching drill teams were popular. These teams were made up of girls who played instruments and marched in formation. Rhéa Ledoux was a team captain and she got to march in front of the other girls. The various drill teams would prepare elaborate sequences which they performed in parades—often in competition […]
Marie Bilodeau Ledoux’s story
My grandmother Marie Bilodeau Ledoux was born in St-Narcisse-de-Lotbinière, Québec, on May 15, 1884. The following is excerpted from a booklet I wrote about my mémère some fifteen years ago and gave a s a Christmas gift to my extended family.
An Extraordinary Woman in an Ordinary World
It was inevitable that I should write Aurore: My Franco-American Mother. From early childhood, I enjoyed my mother’s stories, visualizing the scenes as she talked about her family and the past. During my teen years, I thought my mother talked too much, repeating the same stories over and over again. Whenever she was on the […]
Albert Leaves for War, and I Go Back Home
The following is an excerpt from We Were not Spoiled by Lucille Ledoux as told to Denis Ledoux. The trip to Syracuse We left our wedding guests at 1:30 for the train trip to Albert’s base in Syracuse, N.Y. Since it was still summer and the sun was out late, we saw much beautiful country […]
Uncle Pitou’s Migration to the US and Robert Is Born at Home
Not too long after I was born, my uncle Pitou Lessard (his name was really Lionel) undertook his own migration to the US from Canada, looking for work. Of course, he moved in with us. Today, people would say the apartment on Howe Street in Lewiston was too small to take in another adult, but […]
My Aunt Blanche, My Favorite Canadian Immigrant
During these years, Aunt Blanche Lessard lived with us. When she was in her early twenties, while we were still on Shawmut Street, she had come down as a Canadian immigrant, looking for employment and had moved with us to Jefferson Street. In Lewiston, she apprenticed as a hairdresser with a Canadian woman and eventually […]
The Life of a Fille du Roi After She Settles into New France
This is the story of the life of a fille du roi, of one of my first female ancestors in Canada. For more stories about Marthe Quittel, click on the tag words Marthe Quittel and Franco-American women. French sail ships generally used the north channel of the Saint Lawrence there where the Ile d’Orléans splits […]
A Fille du Roi Marries
This story is taken from Here to Stay, a history of my 17th century ancestors. A fille du roi was a ward of the state sent to New France to marry. September 22 fell on a Tuesday, a good as any day for a wedding.